Title: Pakistani Academic Muhammad Maaz Arif interviews Indonesian Social Activist and Former Journalist Rani Hendasani
Speakers: Jeb Sprague (American Researcher), Muhammad Maaz Arif (Pakistani Academic)
Summary:
Rani Hendasani, an Indonesian activist and former journalist, examines the country’s political turmoil, social unrest, and global challenges. She accuses political elites of neglecting public suffering, suppressing protests, and lacking moral integrity, citing violence, fatalities, and disappearances during the August 2025 protests. Rani outlines profound cleavage between elites and grassroots society, Islam’s little practical influence in politics, and Indonesia’s geopolitical balancing with the United States and China. She affirms Indonesia’s strong public and governmental support for Palestine via diplomatic and humanitarian aid, and she attributes Indonesia’s problems overpopulation, urbanization, unemployment, and environmental degradation to inadequate governance. She closes by advocating for international solidarity, independent journalism, and raising worldwide awareness about human rights violations and missing activists in Indonesia.